Magnetic apparatus



April 2, 1968 R. L. WATTS 3,375,926

MAGNETIC APPARATUS Filed Dec. 16, 1964' INVENTOR Ravmonu L. WPnr-rs ATTORNEY United States Patent ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A magnetic separator construction wherein material, which contains both magnetic and non-magnetic portions, is introduced between two vertically spaced surfaces. A magnetic assembly is arranged to attract magnetic portions of the material to the upper surface and both surfaces,

together with the material therebetween, are oscillated with a vertical and horizontal component. The oscillation results in movement of the magnetic portions in one horizontal direction along the upper surface and also in movement of the non-magnetic portions in an opposite horizontal direction along the lower surface, thereby achieving the desired separation.

This invention relates to magnetic separators and has as a general object the provision of an improved magnetic separator which achieves effective separation with a simplified and economical construction.

A further object of this invention is to provide a separator which enhances separation by agitating the material during and as a part of the separation process.

For the achievement of these and other objects, this invention proposes a separator arrangement wherein the material being processed is positioned in a material receiver between relatively spaced, generally planar faces and the receiver is associated with a magnetic field to separate the magnetic and non-magnetic portions of the material. The magnetic portion is attracted to one face and the non-magnetic portion is engaged with the other face. Movement of the material through the material receiver is achieved by oscillating the receiver in a limited path which has a first component parallel to the faces and a second component generally perpendicular to the face to which the magnetic portion is attracted. This movement of the material receiver causes the nonmagnetic portion of the material to move in a particular direction along one of the faces and causes the magnetic portion of the material to move in an opposite direction along the other face.

Other objects and advantages will be pointed out in, or be apparent from, the specification and claims, as will obvious modifications of the embodiment shown in the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a generally schematic side elevation of a preferred embodiment of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a view taken generally along line 3-3 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view 4-4 of FIG. 3.

With particular reference to the drawings, a magnetic separator embodying this invention is illustrated as preferably including a material receiver which is generally rectangular in transverse cross section and is preferably made of a non-magnetic material such as stainless steel. Material receiver 10 includes vertically spaced upper and lower planar plates 12 and 14; and side walls 16 and 18 closing the opposite sides of the material receiver. An opening 20 is provided in upper plate 12 and is preferably located adjacent one end of the material receiver where it can receive material to be processed from feed taken generally along line hopper 22. All of the material 24 (see FIG. 4) fed into the receiver through the hopper initially assumes a position between the upper and lower plates and on the inner face of lower plate 14.

Magnetic assembly 26 is fixedly supported from bed 28 by vertically extending support members 30 and 32. The magnetic assembly includes a first portion 26a which is arranged generally parallel to the material receiver and a second portion 2612 which is arranged generally at an angle to portion 26a and diverges away from the material receiver for a purpose which will be described more cornpletely hereinafter. The material receiver is supported within the field of magnetic assembly 26 and between the magnetic assembly and bed 32 by a suitable drive mechanism 34 which is effective to impart oscillatory motion to material receiver 10. It will be appreciated that any suitable drive mechanism can be used so long as the proper oscillatory motion is imparted to receiver 10. For example, an arrangement such as that shown somewhat schematically in FIG. 1 could be used. The illustrated drive mechanism includes eccentric 36 driven by motor 38 and connected to the material receiver by crank arm 40. Two pairs of support arms 35 and 37 connect the receiver to the bed for pivotal movement in a generally arcuate path. Crank arm 40 is journaled at one on the eccentric and at its opposite to cross bar 39 extending between support arms 35. Support arms 35 and 37 are pivotally connected to both bed 28 and receiver 10 and in operation motor 38 drives eccentric 36 and transmits oscillatory motion through crank arm 40 to arm 35 to pivot the material receiver in a generally arcuate path toward and away from magnetic assembly 26 as illustrated by the full and dotted line showings of the material receiver in FIG. 1. This arcuate movement has both a vertical and horizontal component and imparts a saltation-type movement to material 24 causing it to move from left to right along the inner face of plate 14 as illustrated in FIG. 4.

As the material enters the field of the magnetic assembly the magnetic portions 24a of the material are attracted to the inner face of upper plate 12 whereas the non-magnetic portions 24b continue along the inner face of plate 14. As the magnetic material is separated from the main body of material and attracted to the upper plate 12, the oscillating movement imparted to receiver 10 has the effect of moving the non-magnetic portions, or tabs, 24b to the right in FIG. 1 whereas the same oscillating movement has the effect of causing the magnetic portions, or fractions, 24a to travel to the left in FIG. 1 thereby producing a counterfiow of the magnetic and nonmagnetic portions of the material fed into the receiver.

The magnetic and non-magnetic material portions can be removed from the receiver in any suitable manner. For example, the extreme right end of receiver 10 is open and provided with a lip 42 so that material 24a traveling along lower plate 14 moves through the open right end of the receiver where it can be discharged into a suitable receiver 43 and removed from the receiver as desired. Similarly, any suitable mechanism can be used to remove the magnetic materials from the receiver. In the illustrated embodiment magnetic assembly 26 has a particular configuration whereby a portion 26b thereof diverges from receiver 10. With this configuration a uniform, strong field is generated throughout the major portion of the extention of receiver 10 and portion 26b provides a relatively Weaker magnetic field, the field of portion 26b becoming progressively weaker toward the left end of the material receiver. Therefore, magnetic portion 24]) moves along plate 12 and. eventually enters the area adjacent magnetic portion 26b and the progressively weaker magnetic field generated thereby. The attractive force on the material is lessened and the material Will drop from upper plate 12. A material receiving chute 44 is suitably connected in receiver in the area of the relatively weaker magnetic field and is positioned below upper plate 12 to catch the magnetic portions as they separate from upper plate 12. The chute is sloped downwardly and the magnetic portions pass along the chute for discharge onto a suitable conveying mechanism (not shown) for transportation from the separating area.

This mechanism provides an extremely simplified magnetic separator which utilizes a minimum of relatively moving parts and yet achieves effective separation. The manner in which the non-magnetic material 24a proceeds along the lower plate of the receiver is well known and it is believed that the movement of the magnetic portions to the left along the upper plate can be explained as follows. At the lower end of the travel of material receiver 10 the magnetic portions 24a are subjected to the weak est magnetic field. This condition coupled with the inertia of the travel causes the magnetic portions to separate and lag behind upper plate 12 as it moves upwardly. However, as the material receiver approaches its end of travel the magnetic portions are exposed to a relatively stronger field which increases the attractive force pulling the magnetic portions toward the upper plate. The magnetic portions will eventually re-engage the upper plate but, because the oscillatory movement of the material receiver has components both parallel to the direction of extension of the receiver and perpendicular to the receiver extension and toward the magnetic assembly, re-engagement of the magnetic portions will occur somewhat to the left of their initial position. The change in direction of movement of the material receiver at its lower end of travel also assists in separating the magnetic portions from upper plate 12. As can be seen from the preceding discussion the material receiver preferably remains in the magnetic field throughout its entire cycle of movement. This arrangement provides a relatively simplified mechanism for achieving magnetic separation and also possesses the added advantage of agitating the material as it is being processed to thereby improve separation.

Although but one embodiment of the present invention has been illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or from the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. Magnetic separating apparatus comprising, in combination,

a hollow, horizontally extending material receiver having relatively vertically spaced upper and lower faces, means for admitting material into said material receiver between said upper and lower faces,

means connected to and operative to oscillate said material receiver in a path generally in the direction of extension of said material receiver and with a vertical and horizontal component of movement, magnetic means,

and means supporting said magnetic means above and adjacent to the upper surface of said material receiver with said magnetic means being stationary with respect to said material receiver and said material receiver being in the field of said magnetic means to attract the magnetic portion of said material to said upper face, said oscillating motion of said material receiver being relative to said magnetic means and effective to move the non-magnetic portions of said material along the lower face of said material receiver in one horizontal direction and to move the magnetic portions along the upper face in an opposite horizontal direction.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 including first means for removing said non-magnetic portion from said material receiver and second means adjacent to and cooperating with said upper face for removing said magnetic portion from said upper face and from said material receiver, said first and second means being horizontally spaced apart in the direction of oscillation of said material receiver.

3. Magnetic separating apparatus comprising, in combination,

a hollow, horizontally extending material receiver having upper and lower opposed faces, magnetic means disposed above and adjacent to said material receiver and being effective to generate a generally uniform magnetic field over a first portion of the extension of said material receiver and a progressively weaker magnetic field from said first material receiver portion and over a second portion of said material receiver, means for admitting material into said material receiver adjacent the area of said material receiver exposed to the relatively weaker magnetic field,

and means connected to and operative to move said material receiver in a path having both a horizontal and vertical component and in a direction generally toward and away from said relatively weaker field and said magnetic means, said oscillatory motion being effective to move the non-magnetic portions of said material along said lower face and away from said relatively weaker field and the magnetic portions being attracted to and moved along said upper face in an opposite direction toward said weaker magnetic field.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said oscillating means is arranged to restrict movement of said material receiver to within the field of said magnetic means.

5. The apparatus of claim 3 including means spaced horizontally from said weaker magnetic field for removing said non-magnetic portions from said material receiver and means in the area of said weaker magnetic field and adjacent said upper face to remove said magnetic portions from said material receiver.

6. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein said material receiver includes horizontally spaced ends and wherein the end of said material receiver spaced horizontally from said weak magnetic field is open and wherein said means for admitting material into said material receiver is disposed adjacent the opposite end of said material receiver,

and including means disposed in the area of said weaker magnetic field and spaced horizontally from said open material receiver end toward said material admitting means for removing said magnetic portions from said material receiver.

7. Magnetic separating apparatus comprising, in combination.

stationary magnetic means,

plate means below said magnetic means and extending the length of said magnetic means,

means in the magnetic field of said magnetic means and positioned below said plate means for supporting material containing magnetic and nonmagnetic portions,

said plate means being between said magnetic means and said means for supporting said material with said magnetic portions of said material being attracted to said plate means,

and means connected to said plate means and operative to oscillate said plate means toward and away from said magnetic means along a path having a vertical and horizontal component so that said oscillating movement moves the magnetic material attracted to said plate means horizontally relative to said magnetic means and relative to said material on said means for supporting said material; and

means for removing said magnetic material from said plate means at a location to which said magnetic material has been moved by said oscillating movement.

bination,

upper and lower planar plate means,

means supporting said upper and lower plate means in relatively spaced, opposed relationship,

stationary magnetic means having a planar portion,

means supporting said magnetic means operatively above adjacent and generally parallel to said upper plate means,

means for admitting material containing magnetic and non-magnetic portions between said upper and lower plate means, and means connected to and operative to oscillate said upper and lower plate means toward and away from said magnetic means in a path of movement having a first component generally parallel to said upper and second plate means and a lower component generally transversely to said upper and lower plate means, said magnetic means being effective to attract the magnetic portions of said material between said upper and lower plate means to said upper plate means to separate said magnetic portion from said non-magnetic portion which engages said lower plate means, said oscillatory motion moving said magnetic portions in one direction on said upper plate means and said non-magnetic portions in an opposite direction on said lower plate means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 292,096 1/ 1'8 84 Carter 209225 X 849,385 4/ 1907 Gibson 209-225 871,301 11/1907 Schwarz 209-223 X 1,527,071 2/1925 Peck 209225 FOREIGN PATENTS 160,677 7/ 1952 Australia.

646,482 8/1962 Canada.

358,028 4/1938 Italy.

HARRY B. THORNTON, Primary Examiner. 20 R. HALPER, Assistant Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,375,926 April 2, 1968 Raymond L. Watts It is certified that error appears in the above identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 5, line 17, "second plate means and a lower" should read lower plate means and a second Signed and sealed this 9th day of September 1969.

(SEAL) Attest:

WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, JR.

Edward M. Fletcher, Jr.

Commissioner of Patents Attesting Officer 

